Automatic Emails

Keeping everyone informed of both progress and
problems is really easy - you can set up automatic
email requests.

These can apply to:

Every Item

Items Addressed to a Single Person

Items Sent from a Single Department

Individual Items

Set up Once - They Run For Years

Email requests are set up once and just left to
run until you switch them off.

For example if you want to send an email to the
person a parcel or letter is addressed to, every
time you can't deliver it (nobody to sign), you
simply set up an automatic email request and leave
it to run for years.

Links to Tracking Reports in Emails

You may choose to configure DeliveryPoD to allow
addressees to access tracking reports of items sent
to them (but only them). If so, you can set up
emails so a link to the tracking report is put into
the email, so the person receiving it can just click
on the link to see the tracking report in their web
browser.

We do not charge a per PC / Laptop fee for access
to the main system, reports and tracking reports.
That is important to bear in mind if you are
comparing systems and prices.

Anatomy of an Email Request

Email requests are really easy to set up and take
less than a minute to do. Here is what a request
looks like:

Please Click Image to Enlarge

The steps to set an Email request are:

Enter a Title for the Email

If the Email should go to the person the
item is addressed to, tick the boxes highlighted
in green. This will personalise the email by
taking their name from the database and fetch
the persons email address from the database when
the email needs to be sent.

Add in any other TO, CCC addresses and a
FROM address.

Decide if the email should apply to all
items, or just those going to a particular
person (highlighted in blue). If you select a
specific person a menu will appear allowing you
to select the person.

Enter your message

Select what causes the email to be sent
(section highlighted in red). The list of
options are shown below:

If you select "Package Completes a Specific
Stage" a menu will show, allowing you to select
the stage you want:

You stages will almost certainly be different,
as they are configured for each customer.

A common use of Stage Specific triggers is to
let an addressee know when an item is loaded
onto a Van or Mail Trolley so they can try to
ensure they are in for when it is delivered.

Click on Save and it will run until you
delete the email request.

You can also set emails that apply to just one
item.

If you have multiple entry points, multiple sites
or track outgoing mail - you can make the Emails
specific to one sender. For example the Finance
Department may want emails sent when they put the
address labels on, but nobody else wants this - just
make the email specific to them (Sender Specific) and
the problem is solved.

So that's it, a thorough but easy way to keep
everyone informed.

Solving Common Mailroom Problems

Lets look at a few common problems that affect a
lot of mailrooms and how we can solve them with
almost no work at all:

Nobody to Sign / Failed Delivery

You
try to deliver an item, but nobody is there to sign
for the items.

Later on the person says they were there all the
time and is upset with the mail team.

DeliveryPoD already allows you to record failed
delivery attempts and take a photograph. But why
not, go a step further:

Answer - Configure an Email request, so that an email
is sent to the person the item was addressed to
when a failed delivery attempt was recorded.

The person receiving the email sees that
you are being proactive and helpful by
letting them know. In any event, they can
see the event has been logged and in our
experience no longer claim they were not
there.

Some customers put a link in the email,
so the person can click on the link and see
a picture of their empty desk with a time
and date stamp!

It is also worth thinking that if the item was
needed urgently for something really critical, all
of a sudden that email may have made a massive
difference to that person / department.

Click Image to see Full Size Image

Delivered to Colleague - not passed on!

The person it was addressed to was not there, but
a colleague signed for the item and promised to pass
it on, but they forgot and have left the office!

The person who expected the item is now on the
phone and in a desperate state.

Answer:
Configure an Email that is sent when an item
is delivered, but not to the person it was
addressed to. The email is sent to the person it
was addressed to.

This should arrive quickly after the item was
delivered so it is there in the addressees inbox
when they get back to their desk.

If your system is configured to put a link in the
email, they can click on the link and see who signed
for the item. Otherwise they can ask their
colleagues or phone the mailroom.

The key is, that they know as soon as possible.

Click Image to see Full Size Image

Special People

Some people ask the mailroom to do things that
nobody else wants them to do. For example - "let me
know when an item is received for me."

Sometimes a secretary of a Director, will want to
be notified when an item for the Director arrives.

If you set an email up for everyone that is
triggered on delivery, you would probably get a lot
of calls saying stop sending me all these emails!

Answer
- set up an Email request that
only applies to items sent to that person. They get
what they want, but without it sending emails to
everyone else.

Damage or Opened Parcel

Most Managers hate it when it is a customer
telling them that something is damaged or opened,
rather than a member of staff telling them so that
they can phone the customer!

Answer - Just configure an email that goes to
the Mailroom Manager that is triggered
when damage is reported. Now the manager hears about
damaged and open items much, much earlier so they
can manage the situation better.

Mail To Collect From Reception

Sometimes mail comes into reception (or another
are of the site), but not regularly enough for it to
be worthwhile sending someone to check all the time.

Answer - Set up Reception as a separate Sender and
configure an email to the mailroom that is triggered
when the Tracking Labels are printed, but set only
for that Sender (Reception). Now the mailroom will
be notified when there are items waiting for them to
collect in reception.